After four years, child murder case still on hold

Published: Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 4:24 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, July 7, 2013 at 4:24 p.m.

Four years ago Monday, Heather Brooke Center went to play with other children, but she never made it to the swimming pool.

Facts

Heather Brooke Center was fatally shot about 3 p.m. July 8, 2009 on 244 Ridings Road. Authorities say Rickey Lee Blackwell Sr. lived next door and shot the child four times after his estranged wife brought the girl to their daughter's home. Witnesses said Blackwell fled into the nearby woods after the shooting. Investigators searched for him before Blackwell emerged and shot himself in the side, Sheriff Chuck Wright said at the time.Brooke was a rising third grader at Reidville Elementary School. She was the daughter of Bobby Alvin Center Jr. and Kelly Leah Center and had a brother, Dustin Dakota Center.“He didn't just kill my baby. He hurt all her friends. Every one of them. They came up to me and handed me blankets and cards, and … it's devastating to them. They're only 8, 9 years old,” Kelly previously told the Herald-Journal. “How do you explain that to a child?”

Authorities say Ricky Lee Blackwell Sr., 54, put the 8-year-old, who went by Brooke, in a headlock, shot her in the head and then shot her three more times. Brooke's parents were separated at the time of her death. So were Blackwell and his wife, Angela, who was dating Brooke's father and had invited the child to go swimming at a home near Chesnee that day.

Brooke was buried in a pink casket at Wood Memorial Park in Duncan.

Blackwell has spent most of the past 1,454 days at the Spartanburg County jail, where he remains without bond on charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with the killing. During a brief stay in the hospital after suffering what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the incident, Blackwell received a notice that prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty.

Four years later, the case still hasn't been scheduled for trial.

A circuit court judge has ordered that all people involved with the case not discuss it. That order remains in effect until the trial starts.

Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette, who is prosecuting Blackwell, declined to comment for this article. Blackwell has been appointed two attorneys: William McGuire, chief attorney of the Capital Trial Division of the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, and 7th Circuit Chief Public Defender Clay Allen. A call to McGuire's office was not returned last week.

A review of court documents reveals some of the legal wrangling that has occurred during the years since Brooke's death.

Once set to begin on Oct. 22, 2012, the trial was postponed so the defense could proceed with mental health evaluations.

In a letter to Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch, Allen wrote that defense attorneys did not plan to present a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill. However, explaining that it “may be appropriate to address the issue of Ricky's competency at some point,” Allen said the defense believes that based on Blackwell's I.Q. — a test indicated it was 63 — that he “has a significant likelihood of being mentally retarded as well.” The defense also asked for the trial to be moved out of Spartanburg, citing pre-trial publicity, “retaliatory attempted” murders and the possible presence of biker gangs that could influence jurors and deny Blackwell a fair trial.

In a court document dated July 13, 2012, defense attorneys assert that two of Blackwell's relatives had their homes “firebombed,” and threats have been made against them. One firebombed home was spray painted with the words “For the girl.”

Seemingly pointing to a frustration in not bringing the case to trial, prosecutors asked Couch in August 2011 — more than two years after the homicide — to curtail “further discovery abuse” in the case. That document reads, in part, “The defendant was arrested almost immediately. The defendant's attorney made a discovery request on July 14, 2009, filed it on July 15 and then withdrew it nine days later, July 25, 2009, following their ‘initial, albeit brief, investigation into this case.' Since that time, there has been no further effort on their part to engage in discovery, nothing other than the now recurrent filings of subpoenas and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.”

By contrast, the last death penalty case tried in Spartanburg County occurred a year before Brooke was killed. On Oct. 23, 2008, jurors sentenced 28-year-old Andres Antonio “Tony” Torres to death for the double murder of a Drayton couple 15 months earlier.

A spokesman for the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office wrote in an email that the office did not have a date for the trial and that the matter would be decided by a circuit judge.

<p>Four years ago Monday, Heather Brooke Center went to play with other children, but she never made it to the swimming pool.</p><p>Authorities say Ricky Lee Blackwell Sr., 54, put the 8-year-old, who went by Brooke, in a headlock, shot her in the head and then shot her three more times. Brooke's parents were separated at the time of her death. So were Blackwell and his wife, Angela, who was dating Brooke's father and had invited the child to go swimming at a home near Chesnee that day.</p><p>Brooke was buried in a pink casket at Wood Memorial Park in Duncan.</p><p>Blackwell has spent most of the past 1,454 days at the Spartanburg County jail, where he remains without bond on charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with the killing. During a brief stay in the hospital after suffering what authorities described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the incident, Blackwell received a notice that prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty.</p><p>Four years later, the case still hasn't been scheduled for trial.</p><p>A circuit court judge has ordered that all people involved with the case not discuss it. That order remains in effect until the trial starts.</p><p>Seventh Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette, who is prosecuting Blackwell, declined to comment for this article. Blackwell has been appointed two attorneys: William McGuire, chief attorney of the Capital Trial Division of the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense, and 7th Circuit Chief Public Defender Clay Allen. A call to McGuire's office was not returned last week.</p><p>A review of court documents reveals some of the legal wrangling that has occurred during the years since Brooke's death.</p><p>Once set to begin on Oct. 22, 2012, the trial was postponed so the defense could proceed with mental health evaluations.</p><p>In a letter to Circuit Court Judge Roger Couch, Allen wrote that defense attorneys did not plan to present a defense of not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill. However, explaining that it “may be appropriate to address the issue of Ricky's competency at some point,” Allen said the defense believes that based on Blackwell's I.Q. — a test indicated it was 63 — that he “has a significant likelihood of being mentally retarded as well.” The defense also asked for the trial to be moved out of Spartanburg, citing pre-trial publicity, “retaliatory attempted” murders and the possible presence of biker gangs that could influence jurors and deny Blackwell a fair trial.</p><p>In a court document dated July 13, 2012, defense attorneys assert that two of Blackwell's relatives had their homes “firebombed,” and threats have been made against them. One firebombed home was spray painted with the words “For the girl.”</p><p>Seemingly pointing to a frustration in not bringing the case to trial, prosecutors asked Couch in August 2011 — more than two years after the homicide — to curtail “further discovery abuse” in the case. That document reads, in part, “The defendant was arrested almost immediately. The defendant's attorney made a discovery request on July 14, 2009, filed it on July 15 and then withdrew it nine days later, July 25, 2009, following their 'initial, albeit brief, investigation into this case.' Since that time, there has been no further effort on their part to engage in discovery, nothing other than the now recurrent filings of subpoenas and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests.”</p><p>By contrast, the last death penalty case tried in Spartanburg County occurred a year before Brooke was killed. On Oct. 23, 2008, jurors sentenced 28-year-old Andres Antonio “Tony” Torres to death for the double murder of a Drayton couple 15 months earlier.</p><p>A spokesman for the 7th Circuit Solicitor's Office wrote in an email that the office did not have a date for the trial and that the matter would be decided by a circuit judge.</p>